What can I do with the different BlueStacks settings?
You can explore various graphic settings, select audio devices, enable gamepad detection, edit shortcut keys for different functions and much more using the Settings menu on BlueStacks 5. You can also customize the settings according to your preference.
To learn more, click on the links below, which will then redirect you to the relevant information.
- Performance - This allows you to customize the performance settings for BlueStacks 5.
- Display - This allows you to customize the screen orientation, resolution, pixel density and mouse cursor style.
- Graphics - Here, you can explore various graphic settings for BlueStacks 5, like graphics engine mode, graphics renderer, interface renderer, GPU and ASTC.
- Game settings - You can launch and play games directly in fullscreen mode by enabling it for any app you'd like, within this tab.
- Devices - From this tab, you can select the camera, speaker and microphone that you wish to use on BlueStacks 5.
- Gamepad - Here, you can enable gamepad detection, gamepad vibration and configure the gamepad input settings correctly on BlueStacks 5.
- Preferences - Here, you can customize your language settings, allow desktop shortcuts for apps upon installation, customize "ESC" key behavior, select your media folder and do more.
- Phone - From this tab, you can select your device profile and/or mobile network provider.
- Shortcuts - From this tab, you can view/edit various shortcut keys for using different tools and functionalities in BlueStacks 5.
- User data - This tab provides you with the Disk cleanup tool, Disk format check and Backup and restore option.
- Advanced - This tab tells you about the ABI settings and gives you access to the Android debug bridge and Input debugging settings.
- About - This provides you with information about your current version of BlueStacks 5 and allows you to check for and download updates when they are available.
You can access the BlueStacks Settings menu in two ways:
- Through the hamburger menu at the top right corner.
- By clicking on the gear icon on the side toolbar.
Performance settings
Under Performance settings, you can:
- Allot CPU cores and memory as per your preference.
- Switch between performance modes to experience optimum performance for your favorite games. Your default performance mode depends on your PC's RAM. If your PC's RAM is above 4GB, then your default performance mode will be set to "High Performance". Otherwise, it is set to "Balanced".
- Change the frame rate.
- Choose to enable a high frame rate in games for a better visual experience.
- Enable/disable VSync
- Opt to display FPS on the screen during gameplay.
Display settings
The Display settings menu lets you do the following:
- Change the BlueStacks 5 screen orientation to either Landscape, Portrait, Ultrawide or custom.
- Switch between the available display resolutions or create and save multiple custom resolutions.
- Adjust the pixel density by selecting either 160 DPI (Low), 240 DPI (Medium), 320 DPI (High) or entering a custom DPI value from 10 to 999.
- Choose from the System default and BlueStacks cursors. While playing MOBA games, the BlueStacks cursor changes to a bright yellow-colored cursor for better visibility.
- Resize icons and text uniformly with Interface scaling and enhance your overall experience, especially if you are using a high-resolution monitor.
NOTE: BlueStacks 5 supports up to 3840 x 2160 (4K) resolution.
Graphics settings
Here, you can choose from various options that can affect the performance of BlueStacks 5, depending on your PC configuration.
- The Graphics engine option lets you choose between Compatible and Performance modes. Most games run smoothly on the Performance mode. Some games that require advanced graphic architecture will ask you to switch to Compatible mode before launching.
- The Graphics renderer option lets you select between DirectX, OpenGL and Vulkan. You can read about this feature in detail in this article.
- Switch your Interface renderer if you are facing graphics issues while using BlueStacks. To know more about how it works, refer to this article.
- ASTC Textures (Beta) lets you select the graphics texture compression decoding method to achieve high-quality graphics using ASTC. This article will tell you all about ASTC on BlueStacks.
- The GPU settings on BlueStacks 5 allow you to assign your computer's GPU to BlueStacks 5 in order to enhance overall performance. Read this article to know more about this feature.
NOTE: Changes in Graphics settings will take place after saving them and restarting BlueStacks 5.
Game settings
From this tab, you can launch and play a game directly in fullscreen mode, saving you the hassle of having to enable fullscreen manually. To learn more, click here.
Devices settings
Within the Devices settings, you can select the camera and the audio devices (speaker, microphone) that you wish to choose while using apps on BlueStacks 5.
NOTE: Please ensure that the audio device which you wish to select is properly connected to your PC before you select it from the device list.
Gamepad settings
Here, you can enable gamepad support, gamepad vibration and configure the input settings correctly on BlueStacks. Under Gamepad settings, you can:
- Enable/disable gamepad detection in BlueStacks
- Select the right input settings for your gamepad controller
- Enable/disable gamepad vibration in BlueStacks
Preferences settings
Within this section, you can:
- Customize the language for BlueStacks 5.
- Allow BlueStacks 5 to connect with your Discord account.
- Enable BlueStacks 5 to create desktop shortcuts for all the apps you install.
- Mute or unmute the Android sound while tapping.
- Toggle the disable ad option to disable ads during gameplay.
- Toggle the use of "ESC" shortcut key to exit fullscreen and unlock the mouse cursor.
- Manage the desktop notifications.
- Manage where to save your media files captured in BlueStacks on your PC.
- Manage the notifications you receive from BlueStacks Services by clicking on "Manage" beside Windows Push Notifications.
Phone
Within the Phone settings menu, you can switch between the predefined device profiles or create a custom device profile for BlueStacks 5 if you'd like to use an app that is more compatible with a certain device.
You can also choose a mobile network provider to run apps that need your device to be connected to a certain network.
NOTE: Mobile network providers may vary based on your location.
Shortcuts
Within this section, you can view or assign new shortcut keys for performing:
- Window actions - Boss Key, Toggle fullscreen and open settings.
- System actions - Take a screenshot, increase/decrease volume and mute/unmute BlueStacks 5.
- Android actions - Access home page, open recent apps menu, shake BlueStacks 5 and more.
- Game controls - Access Controls editor, turn game controls on/off and more.
- Miscellaneous actions - Open media folder, Macro recorder, Multi-instance Manager and more.
User data
Within the User data section, you can:
- Use the Disk Cleanup tool to free up space by removing leftover files from uninstalled apps across all instances on BlueStacks 5.
- Upgrade the BlueStacks 5 data format to protect your BlueStacks files against data corruption. NOTE: This is a one-time process.
- Take a backup of your data and restore it easily at anytime with the Backup and restore option.
Advanced
This section offers advanced users a deeper look into the settings panel of BlueStacks 5. Here, you get the following options:
- Learn about the ABI settings for the active instance
- Enable/disable Android debug bridge
- Toggle Input debugging On or Off for tap points
About
This About section provides information about the BlueStacks 5 version installed on your PC. From here, you can update BlueStacks 5 whenever a newer version is available.
Save changes
After making the desired changes to the Settings menu, don't forget to click on the "Save changes" button.
To know more about the features available on BlueStacks 5, please refer to the release notes.
Thank you for choosing BlueStacks 5. We hope you enjoy using it. Happy Gaming!